


An Ode to Mr. Calvert

by sugarbun



Category: Titanic (1997)
Genre: Afterlife, Alternate Universe - Afterlife, Alternate Universe - Heaven, Death, F/M, Heaven, Implied/Referenced Character Death, One-Sided Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:01:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24367738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sugarbun/pseuds/sugarbun
Summary: It's Rose's time to reunite with her husband at the time of her death, but much to his confusion, she's not there.
Relationships: Jack Dawson/Rose DeWitt Bukater, Rose DeWitt Bukater/Calvert
Comments: 6
Kudos: 47





	An Ode to Mr. Calvert

Calvert paced frantically in front of the Pearly White Gates, much to the chagrin of Saint Peter and the other family members who were waiting for their beloved Rose. 

“Where could she be? I just don’t understand,” Spoke the now-young again gentleman who continued to pace. He had been here all morning with the relatives and friends he’d gathered. As soon as the notice on the board announced newly departed from the Living Realm, he was there in a flash with all who loved her through their multi-decades lasting marriage.

“I’m sure she’ll be here, Dad.” Spoke Johnathan, the eldest of their children, who had been struck by lightning at the age of twelve. “You know how she is. She probably got distracted.” 

The father/husband continued to pace, waving a hand airily at his compassionate son, nodding at the jest. He was surely right and his late wife had gotten tied up with something or another. Maybe she was telling off the driver who would deliver her to them, or she was recounting one of her favorite tales on the art around equestrian training. Maybe she was describing old Hollywood when she was a well-paid actress and how he met her. 

A family member joined him in the fret—his own mother, Rose’s mother-in-law, who adored her despite the ‘dangerous’ lifestyle she chose to live in their era. ‘ _A woman flying a plane on her own? It’s just unthinkable! What would happen to the children if she fell out of the sky?’_ His mother demanded several times, despite his contrary beliefs. Rose was her own woman, with her own amazing hobbies. He knew she wouldn’t be unsafe. She was a calculating woman of poise and wit. 

“Where in the world could she be?” His mother cried, dabbing in the corners of her eyes. “This is so like her to keep us in suspense!”

Calvert liked the adventurous side of Rose, the awe-inspiring star quality she shone. He liked that she seemed to absorb everything around her and give a different point of view of it. He liked the way she laughed at even the most ridiculous jokes men would make and spin their words to make them fools. 

His smart Rose. His brilliant Rose. How he missed her. 

“Pa, please come sit!” Complained Jackson, their second eldest son, who died of the black lung much too early for his tastes, but at least old enough to have lived a life with a wife and child of his own. 

“How can I, son?” The father sighed in the direction of his child, making wide gestures with his arms to show the empty area she should be occupying now that she had entered the folds of death. “When it’s been so long since I’ve held her in my arms?”

The man wanted to cry, but Rose hated weak men. A real man would bare it, surely. A real man would _find_ her.

At this thought, Calvert straightened his shoulders and made a bee-line for the registry. 

“Sir!” He marched up to a short one-seater building where a man dressed in white sat, sipping some cloud juice. Said man was Saint Peter, the overseer of visitations, arrivals, and the very few departures of their afterlife. 

“Hm?” Spoke the sitting Saint, looking up at the upset soul. 

“Where is my wife?” He demanded, face becoming red the longer he withstood the ground against the ethereal being. “Please, help me find her!”

Peter was a kind being, even if he had to do this sort of work all day, day in and day out for all of eternity. He sighed, but good-naturedly turning to his side to lift up an enormous tome. The item seemed to glow at his touch as he piled it on the tiny table before him, and names appeared as he browsed. 

Every name of the newly departed and newly arriving were in this book. They seemed to rearrange and list themselves over and over, despite the many pages he turned, searching for the name he needed to reference. 

“Rose—” The lost soul explained to the searching Saint. “Rose Calvert.” 

“I know, Mr. Calvert,” spoke the being, not looking up from his place in the book. “I will find her. One moment please.” 

It took several minutes of browsing and dragging a pointed finger down lists and lists of endless names, but finally, the Saint seemed to stop at a page and read. He quietly turned the page over, then went back again to make sure he read that correctly. 

“W-well?” The man questioned the quiet being. 

The Saint furrowed his brows, turning to the man who looked more than concerned now. “I’m sorry, Mr. Calvert, but it looks like she won’t be coming.” 

“W-won’t be…?” He murmured in response, mind reeling in a million possibilities. Was she going to The Other Place? Was she being revived yet again to the Living Realm and they weren’t ready for her yet? Or maybe— 

“She’s made passage to join others at The Titanic,” Spoke the Saint, closing the tome and moving it back off to the side of his chair. “She wanted to be reunited with her first love. I'm afraid she won't be joining you.” 

Calvert blinked his long eyelashes and stared confounded as the words didn’t seem to register. 

“The Titanic?” He parroted. His mind spun, remembering only the nightmares, only the horror she must have endured. Why would she want to go back there??

“Yes.” The being conceded the question, dodging the broken gaze by taking another sip from his cup. “The one which sank in 1912.” 

“Oh my word!” Cried Calvert's mother in the background, but he ignored her dramatic fall into a fluffy cloud chair. 

“Her… _first_ love?” Calvert barely whispered out the words, eyes filling with fresh tears. He knew she had been on that ship—that so-called ‘unsinkable’ marvel. He knew she had endured trauma and the horrific icy waters while she awaited rescue. He knew that she was one of the very, very few survivors and that she didn't like to speak about the horror she endured. Deep water still gave her occasional panic attacks, and there had been more than one nightmare he helped her erupt out of. 

But never had she mentioned in the four days she spent on the ship, any sort of love. Any first, or last, or _any_ love. 

His heart squeezed in his chest, and he wiped at the corner of one of his eyes with his palm, betrayal raising tepid chills through his quaking body. 

“Pa?” Came the concerned voice of his son, putting a hand to his shoulder. 

“What is his name, damn you!” Calvert’s voice bellowed at the being as fresh tears wet his cheeks. “My Rose!” He cried, sinking to his knees and covering his face with his hands. 

“That’s the strange thing, Mr. Calvert,” Spoke the Saint, turning to him again with a confused look on his face. “The name of the man—well, he isn’t on the list of Titanic passengers.” 

**Author's Note:**

> After all the uproar on Twitter with Titanic being on TV today, I couldn't help but feel sorry for "Calvert," the man Rose marries after her time on the ship. This is supposed to just be an amusing little story for him, because I can't help but feel sorry for the poor guy. She seemed to have had a long life together with him, and at least loved him enough to marry him. It seems a little unfair that she decided to reunite with Jack—a boy she knew all of four days, rather than him. XD 
> 
> I wrote this up in one sitting, so please forgive any weird typos. 
> 
> Also, yes, it is on purpose that both her sons could have a nickname of "Jack" ahahaha.
> 
> It was also on purpose the dialogue concerning Rose being safe and not willing to do anything dangerous — because poor Calvert, he may not have known Rose very well at all. If she were to not even tell him about the love of her life, what else did she keep from him?


End file.
